He said: “We strongly welcome this research as a way of bringing down costs and energy use from trains and enabling the reopening of rail lines like those to Leamside and Ashington.

“We hope that Nexus and others can have access to this research so as to give the North East the rail network it needs.”

A report to Northumberland County Council late last year estimated that the reintroduction of passenger services on the Ashington line could boost the economy by £70m - with more than 380,000 people predicted to use the line by 2034.

However, there is no suggestion at this time that it will be a “no frills” service.

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Following the announcement Grant Davey, leader of Northumberland County Council, reaffirmed his commitment to an Ashington line.

He said: “In Northumberland we are committed to providing a high quality service to passengers on a new Ashington, Blyth, Tyne line.

“This will bring crucial future jobs, growth and prosperity to the county as well as providing transport links across the wider region and to the rest of the UK.

“While there is still some way to go until passenger trains are running again it’s great to have cross party support on this flagship scheme.”

The new technology could eventually see some of 5,000 miles of disused track opened again after it was closed in the sixties following the recommendations of Dr Richard Beeching, who was the then chairman of British Railways.

The consortium running the project includes Transport Design International (TDI) and Unipart Rail alongside the University of Warwick.

Martin Pemberton, TDI’s managing director, said: “Our concept for very light rail, or’ VLR’, has the potential to be a real step-change in how we can cost-effectively deliver passengers into the main rail network.

“The prototype will be manufactured in the UK by VLR Technologies Ltd and we expect it to enter into service within two years.”

The lightweight design will mean the trains can only operate on lines not used by heavy trains.